Defence letter

Helpb

Hi this will be my defence,if anyone can let me if would be ok.Thanks

IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: XXXXXX

BETWEEN:

xxxxxx (Claimant)

-and-

XXXXXX (Defendant)


Statement of Defence

I am XXXXX, defendant in this matter. It is admitted that the Defendant was the
authorised registered keeper of the vehicle in question at the time of the alleged
incident.

The Defendant denies liability for the entirety of the claim for the following reasons

1.Vehicle registration XXXXXX, was parked on the material date in a disabled marked bay and the vehicle had a valid disabled blue badge to be parked in that bay

2. The identity of the driver of the vehicle on the date in question has not been
ascertained.
(a). The Claimant did not identify the driver
(b). The Defendant has no liability, as they are the Keeper of the vehicle and the Claimant must rely upon the strict provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in order to hold the defendant responsible for the driver’s alleged breach

3. The claimant has not provided enough details in the particulars of claim to file a full
defence. In particular, the full details of the contract which it is alleged was broken
have not been provided.

(a). The Claimant has disclosed no cause of action to give rise to any debt.

(b). The Claimant has stated that a parking charge was incurred.

(c). The Claimant has given no indication of the nature of the alleged charge in the Particulars of Claim. The Claimant has therefore disclosed no cause of action.

(d). The Particulars of Claim contains no details and fails to establish a cause of action
which would enable the Defendant to prepare a specific defence. It just states “parking charges” which does not give any indication of on what basis the claim is brought.
There is no information regarding why the charge arose, what the original charge
was, what the alleged contract was nor anything which could be considered a fair
exchange of information

4.The defendant wrote to the claimant on xxxxx asking for Subject Access Request
(a) Full particulars of the parking charges
b) Who the party was that contracted with UK Car Park Management.
c) The full legal identity of the landowner
d) A full copy of the contract with the landholder that demonstrated that UK Parking Patrol Office Ltd had their authority.
e) If the charges were based on damages for breach of contract and if so to provide
justification of this sum
f) If the charge was based on a contractually agreed sum for the provision of parking
and If so to provide a valid VAT invoice for this 'service'.
g) To provide a copy of the signs that UK Parking Patrol Office Ltd can evidence were on site and which contended formed a contract with the driver on that occasion, as well as all
photographs taken of the vehicle in question.

The claimant has responded,but with very limited information

5. Withholding any relevant photos of the car, particularly the windscreen and
dashboard, and the signage terms, despite being asked for by the Defendant at the
outset, is against the SRA code as well as contrary to the ‘overiding objective’ in the
pre action protocol


The Defendant asks that the court orders Further and Better Particulars of Claim and
asks leave to amend the Defence.

6. UK Parking Patrol Office Ltd are not the lawful occupier of the land. I have the
reasonable belief that they do not have the authority to issue charges on this land in
their own name and that they have no rights to bring action regarding this claim

7.
(a). The Claimant has at no time provided an explanation how the sum has been
calculated, the conduct that gave rise to it or how the amount has climbed from £100
to £160. This appears to be an added cost with apparently no qualification and an
attempt at double recovery, which the POFA Schedule 4 specifically disallows.
(b) The Protection of Freedom Act Para 4(5) states that the maximum sum that may be
recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper.

8.The signage was inadequate to form a contract with the motorist
(a) The signage on this site is inadequate to form a contract. It is barely legible, making it
difficult to read.
(b) The sign fails because it must state what the ANPR data will be used for. This is an
ICO breach and contrary to the Code of Practice.
(c) The sign does not contain an obligation as to how to ‘validly display’ the badge/ticket in the
windscreen, therfore there was no breach of any ‘relevant obligation’ or ‘relevant
contract’ as required under Schedule 4 of POFA.
(d) In the absence of ‘adequate notice’ of the terms and the charge (which must be in
large prominent letters such as the brief, clear and multiple signs in the Beavis case)
this fails to meet the requirements of Schedule 4 of the POFA.

9.The driver did not enter into any 'agreement on the charge', no consideration flowed
between the parties and no contract was established.

The Defendant denies that the driver would have agreed to pay the original demand
of £100 to agree to the alleged contract had the terms and conditions of the contract
been properly displayed and accessible


I believe the facts stated in this defence are true.


(Name) (Signature) (Date

Le_Kirk

The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXXXX, of which the Defendant was the driver, and a car, was parked on

This does not make sense, what are you trying to say?
Further you state at 2. that the defendant was the driver and at 3. and 3a that the identity of the driver has not been ascertained! Conflicting arguments.

Umkomaas

Le_Kirk wrote: »

This does not make sense, what are you trying to say?
Further you state at 2. that the defendant was the driver and at 3. and 3a that the identity of the driver has not been ascertained! Conflicting arguments.

Hanged at dawn! :doh:

Helpb

Thank you for spotting this have altered so it reassign admitting now I am the registered keeper,but at the time of incident they didn't know who was registered keeper or driver,is this correct? Thanks

nosferatu1001

Um, no, thats not correct

They DONT know who the driver is NOW. They KNOW who the RK is, because the DVLA told them.

Helpb

Have edited it to say just the vehicle

Helpb

Hi just a update,and a quick question.The court have received my defence,?also I have had a letter from Gladstone and they have sent the court a Directions Questionnaire (form N180) and they are applying to the court for the case to be dealt on papers and not an oral hearing.I have read the newbies thread and this is standard.My question i have not received my Directions Questionnaire form to fill in,how long does it take for me to receive?

KeithP

Having received your Defence, the Claimant has 28 days to decide to continue.

They have sent a copy of their DQ to you just to keep you under pressure.

Until they have indicated to the court that they wish to continue, you will not be sent your DQ.

Coupon-mad

Sometimes another week or so. Gladstones rush one out, downloaded off t'internet. So could you.